The invention relates to a combination food carrier and amusement device and more particularly a lunch and book carrier.
A child between the ages of 1 and 4 years has a shorter attention span in relation to an older child. The process of feeding a child in these age groups can at times be difficult because the novelty of meal time is lost over time. Therefore the child will focus on other stimuli in their immediate environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,673 teaches a combination food carrier and amusement device which includes first and second panels having a removable bag member and a book secured to the inner surfaces thereof. The first and second panels are provided with removable handle portions which enable the device to transport food items retained in a bag member. The bag member and the handle portions are disposable so that the device remains as a unique amusement device and book. U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,462 teaches a story book which has two pages. The first page has the beginning part of a story displayed therein. The second page has the ending of the story located beneath a food tray, which when filled with food hides the story but when emptied of food reveals the story or theme ending. The story book has the following advantages. It becomes possible to maintain a child's interest in their food by insuring that the child's food will remain warm, keeping the process of feeding quick and simple, keeping meal time novel and utilizing this time in an educational manner. This is based upon utilizing a partitioned food tray which is shaped similar to a storybook and contains a narrative or story that the parent and child can progress through during feeding in an orderly manner which coincides with the sequence of courses during the meal. The story book provides a caretaker of a young child with a tool to gain increased child attention during the process of feeding, as well as to provide an additional educational medium. It allows easy compartmentalization of food, stimulates the child to eat in a sequential manner, and rewards the child with a completed story after completion of the meal. The left-hand side of the story book contains the narrative information which relates directly to a series of food wells on the opposite of the book. Key paragraphs and/or pictures in the sequence of the story remain obscured by food until the child eats the contents of the well and uncovers the bottom of the well which is transparent so that material below it can be read there through. As the child continues through the story he/she is required to eat the contents of the subsequent wells to uncover the next paragraph or picture in the story. This construction allows flexibility in that the trays can be made either disposable or re-usable depending upon the replacement of the story text and pictures. The food tray encourages a young children to finish his food during meal time by providing a food tray having food receptacles with clear bottoms. The food tray provides for placing a picture story under the tray, with pictures or text under the food receptacles so that the pictures and the story become uncovered as the meal progresses. As the child eats his way to the bottom of each clear bottom well, the picture story mounted thereunder becomes visible and provides a child with a "reward" for eating his food.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,471 teaches a nested book assembly for a child which includes a first book and a second book. The first book has a front cover, a back cover and a plurality of pages attached between the two covers. The second book has a front cover, a back cover and a plurality of pages attached between the two covers. The second book has a shape which substantially corresponds to the shape of a cavity formed in the front cover of the first book so that the second book may be frictionally retained within the cavity. The nested book assembly may include one or more puzzle pieces which are frictionally retained within one or more cavities formed in one or more of the books, the overall shape of each of the puzzle pieces substantially corresponding to the shape of a respective one of the cavities in which the puzzle pieces may be frictionally retained. The shape of the books and the puzzle pieces may represent a different portion of a person's face so that when the books and the puzzle pieces are frictionally retained within their respective cavities, the book assembly appears to resemble a person's face.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,085 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,303 teach a tray which can be converted into a picture frame apparatus. The tray has various areas which can be used to mount baseball cards after the tray has been used to carry beverages to one's seat, such as at a baseball game. The tray is designed to provide a support for a coffee cup. The support can then be removed to allow the insertion of baseball cards for displaying the same. A transparent bottom to the tray is not provided to support food so that pictures or text can be placed under the tray and viewed upon removal of the tray contents. No other food tray displays either text or pictures once the contents of the tray are either eaten or otherwise removed.
U.S. Pat. No. D-197,573, U.S. Pat. No. D-251,288 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,094,264 teach trays which have games or other entertaining displays thereon. U.S. Pat. No. 1,396,484 teaches a tray which has pictures formed thereon. U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,033 teaches a tray which has a picture formed thereon and a light within the tray to further enhance the picture displayed. U.S. Pat. No. D-198,387 teaches a child's feeding dish in which the food receptacles form a smiling face. All of the above-referenced patents have the disadvantage that none would be able to hold a child's attention during the course of feeding the child a meal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,894 teaches an educational device in which a plurality of books are removably supported within a book tray. The book tray has a plurality of recesses formed therein, each of the recesses having a shape which generally corresponds to a respective letter of the alphabet, and each of the books has an overall shape which corresponds to the shape of one of the recesses formed in the book tray.
The inventor incorporates the teachings of the above-cited patents into this specification.